Semiconductor devices

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor device includes an input/output (I/O) line drive control circuit and a data I/O circuit. The I/O line drive control circuit is configured to generate drive control pulses having a generation sequence, wherein the generation sequence of the drive control pulses are controlled based on a command pulse and address latch signals, and wherein the address latch signals are set based on when the command pulse is generated to perform a read operation or a write operation. The command pulse is generated to perform a read operation or a write operation. The data I/O circuit controls data I/O operations of a plurality of bank groups based on the drive control pulses.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/179,046, filed on Nov. 2, 2018, and claimspriority under 35 U.S.C 119(a) to Korean Application No.10-2018-0052666, filed on May 8, 2018, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to semiconductor devicesconfigured for performing a data input/output (I/O) operation.

2. Related Art

In general, each of semiconductor devices such as dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM) devices may include a plurality of bank groups comprisedof cell arrays which are selected by addresses. Each of the bank groupsmay be realized to include a plurality of banks. The semiconductordevice may select any one of the plurality of bank groups and mayperform a read operation for outputting data stored in a cell arrayincluded in the selected bank group through I/O lines or a writeoperation for storing data inputted through the I/O lines into the cellarray included in the selected bank group.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment, a semiconductor device includes aninput/output (I/O) line drive control circuit and a data I/O circuit.The I/O line drive control circuit may be configured to generate drivecontrol pulses having a generation sequence, wherein the generationsequence of the drive control pulses are controlled based on a commandpulse and address latch signals, and wherein the address latch signalsare set based on when the command pulse is generated to perform a readoperation or a write operation. The command pulse may be generated toperform a read operation or a write operation. The data I/O circuitcontrols data I/O operations of a plurality of bank groups based on thedrive control pulses.

According to an embodiment, a semiconductor device includes aninput/output (I/O) line drive control circuit that generates first tofourth drive control pulses for controlling data I/O operations of firstto fourth bank groups according to a logic level combination of firstand second address latch signals. The I/O line drive control circuitgenerates the third drive control pulse after the first drive controlpulse is generated when both of the first and second address latchsignals have a first logic level.

According to an embodiment, a semiconductor device includes acommand/address control circuit and a first core circuit. Thecommand/address control circuit generates first and second input/output(I/O) control pulses and first and second address latch signals on thebasis of information included in an external control signal. The firstcore circuit controls data I/O operations of first to fourth bank groupsbased on the first I/O control pulse and the first and second addresslatch signals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of asemiconductor device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an address latchsignal generation circuit included in the semiconductor device of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a command pulsedelay circuit included in the semiconductor device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of an address latchsignal delay circuit included in the semiconductor device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a column pathcircuit included in the semiconductor device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a delayed I/Opulse generation circuit included in the semiconductor device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an I/O line drivecontrol circuit included in the semiconductor device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a synthesis I/Opulse generation circuit included in the I/O line drive control circuitof FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a count pulsegeneration circuit included in the I/O line drive control circuit ofFIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a samplingsignal generation circuit included in the I/O line drive control circuitof FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a bank synthesispulse generation circuit included in the I/O line drive control circuitof FIG. 7.

FIG. 12 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a drive controlpulse generation circuit included in the I/O line drive control circuitof FIG. 7.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a data I/O circuitincluded in the semiconductor device of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 14 to 16 are timing diagrams illustrating an operation of thesemiconductor device shown in FIGS. 1 to 13.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of asemiconductor device according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a command/addresscontrol circuit included in the semiconductor device of FIG, 17.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a command pulsedelay circuit included in the command/address control circuit of FIG.18.

FIG. 20 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of an I/O controlpulse generation circuit included in the command/address control circuitof FIG. 18.

FIG. 21 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a first addresslatch signal generation circuit included in the command/address controlcircuit of FIG. 18.

FIG. 22 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a second addresslatch signal generation circuit included in the command/address controlcircuit of FIG. 18.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a first corecircuit included in the semiconductor device of FIG. 17.

FIG. 24 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of an I/O pulsedelay circuit included in the first core circuit of FIG. 23.

FIG. 25 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of an address delaycircuit included in the first core circuit of FIG. 23,

FIG. 26 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of a drive controlpulse generation circuit included in the first core circuit of FIG. 23.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a data I/O circuitincluded in the first core circuit of FIG. 23.

FIGS. 28 and 29 are timing diagrams illustrating an operation of thesemiconductor device shown in FIGS. 17 to 27.

FIG. 30 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicsystem employing the semiconductor device shown in FIGS. 1 to 17.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present disclosure will be describedhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, theembodiments described herein are for illustrative purposes only and arenot intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a semiconductor device according to anembodiment may include a command pulse generation circuit 1, an addresslatch signal generation circuit 2, a command pulse delay circuit 3, anaddress latch signal delay circuit 4, a column path circuit 5, a delayedI/O pulse generation circuit 6, an I/O line drive control circuit 7 anda data I/O circuit 8.

The command pulse generation circuit 1 may generate a command pulse CMDPbased on an external control signal CA<1:L> and an internal clock signalICLK, The external control signal CA<1:L> may include a command and anaddress that are provided by an external device. The internal clocksignal ICLK may be toggled in synchronization with a predetermined edgeof a clock signal (not shown) that is provided by the external device oranother external device. For example, the internal clock signal ICLK maybe toggled in synchronization with a rising edge of the clock signal(not shown). The number ‘L’ of bits included in the external controlsignal CA<1:L> may be set to be different according to the embodiments.The external control signal CA<1:L> may be replaced with a signal whichis generated by a circuit in the semiconductor device in someembodiments, and the internal clock signal ICLK may be replaced with aclock signal provided by the external device in some embodiments.

The command pulse generation circuit 1 may generate the command pulseCMDP at a point of time that the external control signal CA<1:L> havinga predetermined logic level combination is inputted to the command pulsegeneration circuit 1 in synchronization with the internal clock signalICLK. The command pulse CMDP may be generated to perform a readoperation or a write operation according to the embodiments. The commandpulse generation circuit 1 may decode the external control signalCA<1:L> to generate the command pulse CMDP.

The address latch signal generation circuit 2 may generate a firstaddress latch signal LADD1 and a second address latch signal LADD2 basedon the external control signal CA<1:L>, the internal clock signal ICLKand the command pulse CMDP. The address latch signal generation circuit2 may latch an address, which is extracted from the external controlsignal CA<1:L> in synchronization with the internal clock signal ICLK,to generate the first and second address latch signals LADD1 and LADD2at a point of time that the command pulse CMDP is generated. Aconfiguration and an operation of the address latch signal generationcircuit 2 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 later.

The command pulse delay circuit 3 may generate a delayed command pulseCMDPd from the command pulse CMDP based on the internal clock signalICLK. The command pulse delay circuit 3 may delay the command pulse CMDPby a delay period set by the internal clock signal ICLK to generate thedelayed command pulse CMDPd. A configuration and an operation of thecommand pulse delay circuit 3 will be described with reference to FIG. 3later.

The address latch signal delay circuit 4 may delay the first addresslatch signal LADD1 to generate a first delayed address latch signalLADD1 d. The address latch signal delay circuit 4 may delay the secondaddress latch signal LADD2 to generate a second delayed address latchsignal LADD2 d. In the present embodiment, a delay period of the firstaddress latch signal LADD1 may be set to be equal to a delay period ofthe second address latch signal LADD2. In some other embodiments, thedelay period of the first address latch signal LADD1 may be set to bedifferent from the delay period of the second address latch signalLADD2. A configuration and an operation of the address latch signaldelay circuit 4 will be described more fully with reference to FIG. 4later.

The column path circuit 5 may generate a first bank I/O pulse IOP_BG1, asecond bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2, a third bank I/O puke IOP_BG3 and afourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4 based on the first address latch signalLADD1 and the command pulse CMDP. The column path circuit 5 may bufferthe command pulse CMDP to generate the first to fourth bank I/O pulsesIOP_BG1, IOP_BG2, IOP_BG3 and IOP_BG4 according to a logic level of thefirst address latch signal LADD1. For example, the column path circuit 5may buffer the command pulse CMDP to generate the first and third bank

I/O pulses IOP_BG1 and IOP_BG3 if the first address latch signal LADD1has a first logic level, and the column path circuit 5 may buffer thecommand pulse CMDP to generate the second and fourth bank I/O pulsesIOP_BG2 and IOP_BG4 if the first address latch signal LADD1 has a secondlogic level. In the present embodiment, the first logic level of thefirst address latch signal LADD1 may be set as a logic “low” level andthe second logic level of the first address latch signal LADD1 may beset as a logic “high” level. Pulses generated according to a logic levelof the first address latch signal LADD1 among the first to fourth bankI/O pulses IOP_BG1, IOP_BG2, IOP_BG3 and IOP_BG4 may be set to bedifferent according to the embodiments. A configuration and an operationof the column path circuit 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 5later.

The delayed I/O (input and output) pulse generation circuit 6 maygenerate a first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d and a second delayed I/Opulse IOP_BG24_d based on the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 dand the delayed command pulse CMDPd. The delayed I/O pulse generationcircuit 6 may buffer the delayed command pulse CMDPd to generate thefirst delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d or the second delayed I/O pulseIOP_BG24_d according to a logic level of the first delayed address latchsignal LADD1 d. For example, the delayed I/O pulse generation circuit 6may buffer the delayed command pulse CMDPd to generate the first delayedI/O pulse IOP_BG13_d if the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 dhas a first logic level, and the delayed I/O pulse generation circuit 6may buffer the delayed command pulse CMDPd to generate the seconddelayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d if the first delayed address latch signlLADD1 d has a second logic level. In the present embodiment, the firstlogic level of the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d may be setas a logic “low” level and the second logic level of the first delayedaddress latch signal LADD1 d may be set as a logic “high” level. A pulsegenerated according to a logic level of the first delayed address latchsignal LADD1 d among the first and second delayed I/O pulses IOP_BG13_dand I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d may be set to be different according to theembodiments. A configuration and an operation of the delayed I/O pulsegeneration circuit 6 will be described with reference to FIG. 6 later.

The I/O line drive control circuit 7 may generate a first drive controlpulse DCTR_BG1, a second drive control pulse DCTR_BG2, a third drivecontrol pulse DCTR_BG3 and a fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4 basedon the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d, the second delayedaddress latch signal LADD2 d, the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d,the second delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d, the first bank I/O pulseIOP_BG1, the second bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2, the third bank I/O pulseIOP_BG3 and the fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4. The I/O line drivecontrol circuit 7 may selectively sample the first delayed I/O pulseIOP_BG13_d, the second delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d, the first bank I/Opulse IOP_BG1, the second bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2, the third bank I/Opulse IOP_BG3 and the fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4 to generate thefirst to fourth drive control pulses DCTR_BG1, DCTR_BG2, DCTR_BG3 andDCTR_BG4. The generation sequence of the first to fourth drive controlpulses DCTR_BG1, DCTR_BG2, DCTR_BG3 and DCTR_BG4 are controlled,according to logic levels of the first delayed address latch signalLADD1 d and the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d. Aconfiguration and an operation of the I/O line drive control circuit 7will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 12 later.

The data I/O circuit 8 may perform a data I/O operation based on thefirst drive control pulse DCTR_BG1, the second drive control pulseDCTR_BG2, the third drive control pulse DCTR_BG3 and the fourth drivecontrol pulse DCTR_BG4. The data I/O circuit 8 may control a sequence ofdata I/O operations of bank groups (81˜84 of FIG. 13) according to thegeneration sequence of the first to fourth drive control pukes DCTR_BG1,DCTR_BG2, DCTR_BG3 and DCTR_BG4. A configuration and an operation of thedata I/O circuit 8 will be described with reference to FIG. 13 later.

Referring to FIG. 2, the address latch signal generation circuit 2 mayinclude an address extraction circuit 21, a first address latch circuit22 and a second address latch circuit 23. The address extraction circuit21 may generate a first address ADD1 and a second address ADD2 from theexternal control signal CA<1:L> based on the internal clock signal ICLK.The address extraction circuit 21 may output the data of predeterminedbits of the external control signal CA<1:L> inputted to the addressextraction circuit 21 in synchronization with the internal clock signalICLK as the first address ADD1. The predetermined bits of the externalcontrol signal CA<1 L> to be outputted as the first address ADD1 may beset to be different according to the embodiments. The address extractioncircuit 21 may output the data of predetermined bits of the externalcontrol signal CA<1:L> inputted to the address extraction circuit 21 insynchronization with the internal clock signal ICLK as the secondaddress ADD2. The predetermined bits of the external control signalCA<1:L> to be outputted as the second address ADD2 may be set to bedifferent according to the embodiments. The first address latch circuit22 may latch the first address ADD1 to output the latched first addressas the first address latch signal LADD1, in synchronization with a pointof time that the command pulse CMDP is created. The second address latchcircuit 22 may latch the second address ADD2 to output the latchedsecond address as the second address latch signal LADD2, insynchronization with a point of time that the command pulse CMDP iscreated.

Referring to FIG. 3, the command pulse delay circuit 3 may include afirst shift register 31 and a second shift register 32. The first shiftregister 31 may shift the command pulse CMDP by one cycle of theinternal clock signal ICLK. The second shift register 32 may shift anoutput signal of the first shift register 31 by one cycle of theinternal clock signal ICLK. The command pulse delay circuit 3 may delaythe command pulse CMDP by a period corresponding to two cycles of theinternal clock signal ICLK to generate the delayed command pulse CMDPd.

Referring to FIG. 4, the address latch signal delay circuit 4 mayinclude a first address delay circuit 41 and a second address delaycircuit 42. The first address delay circuit 41 may be realized using aninverter chain comprised of first to P^(th) inverters IV41<1:P> that arecascaded. The first address delay circuit 41 may delay the first addresslatch signal LADD1 using, for example, the inverter chain comprised ofthe first to P^(th) inverters IV41<1:P> to output the delayed signal ofthe first address latch signal LADD1 as the first delayed address latchsignal LADD1 d. The second address delay circuit 42 may be realizedusing an inverter chain comprised of first to Q^(th) inverters IV42<1:Q>that are cascaded. The second address delay circuit 42 may delay thesecond address latch signal LADD2 using, for example, the inverter chaincomprised of the first to Q^(th) inverters IV42<1:Q> to output thedelayed signal of the second address latch signal LADD2 as the seconddelayed address latch signal LADD2 d. In the present embodiment, thenumber ‘P’ of inverters included in the first to P^(th) invertersIV41<1:P> may be set to be equal to the number ‘Q’ of inverters includedin the first to Q^(th) inverters IV42<1:Q>. In an embodiment, the number‘P’ of inverters included in the first to P^(th) inverters IV41<1:P> maybe set to be different from the number ‘Q’ of inverters included in thefirst to Q^(th) inverters IV42<1:Q>.

Referring to FIG. 5, the column path circuit 5 may include a commanddelay circuit 51 and a bank I/O pulse generator 52. The command delaycircuit 51 may be realized using an inverter chain comprised of first toR^(th) inverters IV51<1:R> that are cascaded. The command delay circuit51 may delay the command pulse CMDP using the inverter chain comprisedof the first to R^(th) inverters IV51<1:R> to output the delayed commandpulse as a delayed pulse DP. The number ‘R’ of inverters included in thefirst to R^(th) inverters IV51<1:R> may be set to be different accordingto the embodiments. The bank I/O pulse generator 52 may be configured toperform, for example, inversion and NAND operations. The bank I/O pulsegenerator 52 may include, for example, inverters IV521˜IV523 and NANDgates NAND521 and NAND522. The inverter IV521 may inversely buffer thefirst address latch signal LADD1 and may output the inversely bufferedsignal of the first address latch signal LADD1. The NAND gate NAND521and the inverter IV522 may perform a logical AND operation of thedelayed pulse DP and an output signal of the inverter IV521 to outputthe result of the logical AND operation as the first bank I/O pulseIOP_BG1 and the third bank I/O pulse IOP_BG3. The NAND gate NAND522 andthe inverter IV523 may perform a logical AND operation of the delayedpulse DP and the first address latch signal LADD1 to output the resultof the logical AND operation as the second bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2 andthe fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4. The bank I/O pulse generator 52 maybuffer the delayed pulse DP to output the buffered signal of the delayedpulse DP as the first bank I/O pulse IOP_BG1 and the third bank I/Opulse IOP_BG3 if the first address latch signal LADD1 has a logic “low”level. The bank I/O pulse generator 52 may buffer the delayed pulse DPto output the buffered signal of the delayed pulse DP as the second bankI/O pulse IOP_BG2 and the fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4 if the firstaddress latch signal LADD1 has a logic “high” level.

Referring to FIG. 6, the delayed I/O pulse generation circuit 6 mayinclude a replica command delay circuit 61 and a delay I/O pulsegenerator 62. The replica command delay circuit 61 may be realizedusing, for example, an inverter chain comprised of first to R^(th)inverters IV61<1:R> that are cascaded. The replica command delay circuit61 may delay the delayed command pulse CMDPd using the inverter chaincomprised of the first to R^(th) inverters IV61<1:R> to output thedelayed pulse of the delayed command pulse CMDPd as a replica delaypulse RDP. The number ‘R’ of inverters included in the first to R^(th)inverters IV61<1:R> may be set to be different according to theembodiments. The delay I/O pulse generator 62 may be configured toperform, for example, inversion and NAND operations. For example, thedelay I/O pulse generator 62 may include inverters IV621˜IV623 and NANDgates NAND621 and NAND622. The inverter IV621 may inversely buffer thefirst delayed address latch signal LADD1 d and may output the inverselybuffered signal of the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d. TheNAND gate NAND621 and the inverter IV622 may perform a logical ANDoperation of the replica delay pulse RDP and an output signal of theinverter IV621 to output the result of the logical AND operation as thefirst delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d. The NAND gate NAND622 and theinverter IV623 may perform a logical AND operation of the replica delaypulse RDP and the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d to outputthe result of the logical AND operation as the second delayed I/O pulseIOP_BG24_d. The delay I/O pulse generator 62 may buffer the replicadelay pulse RDP to output the buffered signal of the replica delay pulseDP as the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d if the first delayedaddress latch signal LADD1 d has a logic “low” level. The delay I/Opulse generator 62 may buffer the replica delay pulse RDP to output thebuffered signal of the replica delay pulse RDP as the second delayed I/Opulse IOP_BG24_d if the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d has alogic “high” level.

Referring to FIG. 7, the I/O line drive control circuit 7 may include asynthesis I/O pulse generation circuit 71, a count pulse generationcircuit 72, a sampling signal generation circuit 73, and a banksynthesis pulse generation circuit 74 and a drive control pulsegeneration circuit 75.

The synthesis I/O pulse generation circuit 71 may synthesize the firstbank I/O pulse IOP_BG1, the second bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2, the thirdbank I/O pulse IOP_BG3 and the fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4 to generatea synthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM. The synthesis I/O pulse generationcircuit 71 may generate the synthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM if any one ofthe first to fourth bank I/O pulses IOP_BG1˜IOP_BG4 is created. Thesynthesis I/O pulse generation circuit 71 may synthesize the firstdelayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d and the second delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_dto generate a synthesized delay I/O pulse IOP_d_SUM. The synthesis I/Opulse generation circuit 71 may generate the synthesized delay I/O pulseIOP_d_SUM if any one of the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d and thesecond delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d is created. A configuration and anoperation of the synthesis I/O pulse generation circuit 71 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 8 later.

The count pulse generation circuit 72 may generate a count pulseIB4_CNTP from the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d based onthe synthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM and the synthesized delay I/O pulseIOP_d_SUM. The count pulse generation circuit 72 may latch the seconddelayed address latch signal LADD2 d to output the latched signal of thesecond delayed address latch signal LADD2 d as the count pulse IB4_CNTP,in synchronization with the synthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM. The countpulse generation circuit 72 may latch an inverted signal of the seconddelayed address latch signal LADD2 d to output the latched signal of theinverted signal of the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d asthe count pulse IB4_CNTP, in synchronization with the synthesized delayI/O pulse IOP_d_SUM. The count pulse IB4_CNTP may be set to have thesame logic level as the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d at apoint of time that the synthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM is created and maybe set to have an inverted logic level of the second delayed addresslatch signal LADD2 d at a point of time that the synthesized delay I/Opulse IOP_d_SUM is created. A configuration and an operation of thecount pulse generation circuit 72 will be described with reference toFIG. 9 later.

The sampling signal generation circuit 73 may decode the count pulseIB4_CNTP and the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d to generatea first sampling signal SAMP1, a second sampling signal SAMP2, a thirdsampling signal SAMP3 and a fourth sampling signal SAMP4. The samplingsignal generation circuit 73 may generate the first to fourth samplingsignals SAMP1˜SAMP4, one of which is selectively enabled according to alogic level combination of the count pulse IB4_CNTP and the firstdelayed address latch signal LADD1 d. Logic level combinations of thecount pulse IB4_CNTP and the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 dfor enabling the first to fourth sampling signals SAMP1˜SAMP4 may be setto be different according to the embodiments. A configuration and anoperation of the sampling signal generation circuit 73 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 10 later.

The bank synthesis pulse generation circuit 74 may synthesize the firstbank I/O pulse IOP_BG1 and the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d togenerate a first bank synthesis pulse BG1_SUMP. The bank synthesis pulsegeneration circuit 74 may generate the first bank synthesis pulseBG1_SUMP if any one of the first bank I/O pulse IOP_BG1 and the firstdelayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d is created. The bank synthesis pulsegeneration circuit 74 may synthesize the third bank I/O pulse IOP_BG3and the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d to generate a third banksynthesis pulse BG3_SUMP. The bank synthesis pulse generation circuit 74may generate the third bank synthesis pulse BG3_SUMP if any one of thethird bank I/O pulse IOP_BG3 and the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_dis created. The bank synthesis pulse generation circuit 74 maysynthesize the second bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2 and the second delayed I/Opulse IOP_BG24_d to generate a second bank synthesis pulse BG2_SUMP. Thebank synthesis pulse generation circuit 74 may generate the second banksynthesis pulse BG2_SUMP if any one of the second bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2and the second delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d is created. The banksynthesis pulse generation circuit 74 may synthesize the fourth bank I/Opulse IOP_BG4 and the second delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d to generate afourth bank synthesis pulse BG4_SUMP. The bank synthesis pulsegeneration circuit 74 may generate the fourth bank synthesis pulseBG4_SUMP if any one of the fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4 and the seconddelayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d is created. A configuration and anoperation of the bank synthesis pulse generation circuit 74 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 11 later.

The drive control pulse generation circuit 75 may generate the firstdrive control pulse DCTR_BG1 based on the first bank synthesis pulseBG1_SUMP and the first sampling pulse SAMP1. The drive control pulsegeneration circuit 75 may generate the first drive control pulseDCTR_BG1 if the first bank synthesis pulse BG1_SUMP is created while thefirst sampling pulse SAMP1 is enabled. The drive control pulsegeneration circuit 75 may generate the second drive control pulseDCTR_BG2 based on the second bank synthesis pulse BG2_SUMP and thesecond sampling pulse SAMP2. The drive control pulse generation circuit75 may generate the second drive control pulse DCTR_BG2 if the secondbank synthesis pulse BG2_SUMP is created while the second sampling pulseSAMP2 is enabled. The drive control pulse generation circuit 75 maygenerate the third drive control pulse DCTR_BG3 based on the third banksynthesis pulse BG3_SUMP and the third sampling pulse SAMP3. The drivecontrol pulse generation circuit 75 may generate the third drive controlpulse DCTR_BG3 if the third bank synthesis pulse BG3_SUMP is createdwhile the third sampling pulse SAMP3 is enabled. The drive control pulsegeneration circuit 75 may generate the fourth drive control pulseDCTR_BG4 based on the fourth bank synthesis pulse BG4_SUMP and thefourth sampling pulse SAMP4. The drive control pulse generation circuit75 may generate the fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4 if the fourthbank synthesis pulse BG4_SUMP is created while the fourth sampling pulseSAMP4 is enabled. A configuration and an operation of the drive controlpulse generation circuit 75 will be described with reference to FIG. 12later.

Referring to FIG. 8, the synthesis I/O pulse generation circuit 71 maybe configured to perform, for example, OR operations. The synthesis I/Opulse generation circuit 71 may include, for example, OR gatesOR71˜OR74. The OR gate OR71 may perform a logical OR operation of thefirst bank I/O pulse IOP_BG1 and the second bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2. TheOR gate OR72 may perform a logical OR operation of the third bank I/Opulse IOP_BG3 and the fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4. The OR gate OR73may perform a logical OR operation of an output signal of the OR gateOR71 and an output signal of the OR gate OR72 to output the result ofthe logical OR operation as the synthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM. Thesynthesis I/O pulse generation circuit 71 may generate the synthesizedI/O pulse IOP_SUM if any one of the first to fourth bank I/O pulsesIOP_BG1˜IOP_BG4 is created. The OR gate OR74 may perform a logic ORoperation of the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d and the seconddelayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d to output the result of the logical ORoperation as the synthesized delay I/O pulse IOP_d_SUM. The synthesisI/O pulse generation circuit 71 may generate the synthesized delay I/Opulse IOP_d_SUM if any one of the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d andthe second delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d is created.

Referring to FIG. 9, the count pulse generation circuit 72 may include,for example, an inverter IV72, a first count flip-flop 721 and a secondcount flip-flop 722. The inverter IV72 may inversely buffer the seconddelayed address latch signal LADD2 d to output the inversely bufferedsignal of the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d. The firstcount flip-flop 721 may be synchronized with a rising edge of thesynthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM to latch the second delayed address latchsignal LADD2 d and to output the latched signal of the second delayedaddress latch signal LADD2 d as the count pulse IB4_CNTP. The secondcount flip-flop 722 may be synchronized with a rising edge of thesynthesized delay I/O pulse IOP_d_SUM to latch an output signal of theinverter IV72 and to output the latched signal of the output signal ofthe inverter IV72 as the count pulse IB4_CNTP. The count pulsegeneration circuit 72 may generate the count pulse IB4_CNTP which is setto have the same logic level as the second delayed address latch signalLADD2 d at a point of time that the synthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM iscreated and may generate the count pulse IB4_CNTP which is set to havean inverted level of the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d ata point of time that the synthesized delay I/O pulse IOP_d_SUM iscreated.

Referring to FIG. 10, the sampling signal generation circuit 73 may beconfigured, for example, to perform inversion and NAND operations. Forexample, the sampling signal generation circuit 73 may be configured toinclude, for example, inverters IV731˜IV736 and NAND gatesNAND733˜NAND736. The inverter IV731 may inversely buffer the count pulseIB4_CNTP. The inverter IV732 may inversely buffer the first delayedaddress latch signal LADD1 d. The NAND gate NAND733 and the inverterIV733 may perform a logical AND operation of an output signal of theinverter IV731 and an output signal of the inverter IV732 to output theresult of the logical AND operation as the first sampling signal SAMP1.The NAND gate NAND734 and the inverter IV734 may perform a logical ANDoperation of the count pulse IB4_CNTP and an output signal of theinverter IV732 to output the result of the logical AND operation as thesecond sampling signal SAMP2. The NAND gate NAND735 and the inverterIV735 may perform a logical AND operation of the first delayed addresslatch signal LADD1 d and an output signal of the inverter IV731 tooutput the result of the logical AND operation as the third samplingsignal SAMP3. The NAND gate NAND736 and the inverter IV736 may perform alogical AND operation of the count pulse IB4_CNTP and the first delayedaddress latch signal LADD1 d to output the result of the logical ANDoperation as the fourth sampling signal SAMP4. The sampling signalgeneration circuit 73 may generate the first sampling signal SAMP1 whichis enabled to have a logic “high” level while the count pulse IB4_CNTPhas a logic “low” level and the first delayed address latch signal LADD1d has a logic “low” level. The sampling signal generation circuit 73 maygenerate the second sampling signal SAMP2 which is enabled to have alogic “high” level while the count pulse IB4_CNTP has a logic “high”level and the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d has a logic“low” level. The sampling signal generation circuit 73 may generate thethird sampling signal SAMP3 which is enabled to have a logic “high”level while the count pulse IB4_CNTP has a logic “low” level and thefirst delayed address latch signal LADD1 d has a logic “high” level.

The sampling signal generation circuit 73 may generate the fourthsampling signal SAMP4 which is enabled to have a logic “high” levelwhile the count pulse IB4_CNTP has a logic “high” level and the firstdelayed address latch signal LADD1 d has a logic “high” level.

Referring to FIG. 11, the bank synthesis pulse generation circuit 74 maybe configured, for example, to perform OR operations. For example, thebank synthesis pulse generation circuit 74 may include OR gatesOR741′OR744. The OR gate OR741 may perform a logical OR operation of thefirst bank I/O pulse IOP_BG1 and the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_dto generate the first bank synthesis pulse BG1_SUMP. The OR gate OR741may generate the first bank synthesis pulse BG1_SUMP if any one of thefirst bank I/O pulse IOP_BG1 and the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_dis created. The OR gate OR742 may perform a logical OR operation of thethird bank I/O pulse IOP_BG3 and the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_dto generate the third bank synthesis pulse BG3_SUMP. The OR gate OR742may generate the third bank synthesis pulse BG3_SUMP if any one of thethird bank I/O pulse IOP_BG3 and the first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_dis created. The OR gate OR743 may perform a logical OR operation of thesecond bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2 and the second delayed I/O pulseIOP_BG24_d to generate the second bank synthesis pulse BG2_SUMP. The ORgate OR743 may generate the second bank synthesis pulse BG2_SUMP if anyone of the second bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2 and the second delayed I/Opulse IOP_BG24_d is created. The OR gate OR744 may perform a logical ORoperation of the fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4 and the second delayedI/O pulse IOP_BG24_d to generate the fourth bank synthesis pulseBG4_SUMP. The OR gate OR744 may generate the fourth bank synthesis pukeBG4_SUMP if any one of the fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4 and the seconddelayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d is created.

Referring to FIG. 12, the drive control pulse generation circuit 75 maybe configured to perform, for example, AND operations. For example, thedrive control pulse generation circuit 75 may include AND gatesAND751˜AND754. The AND gate AND751 may perform a logical AND operationof the first bank synthesis pulse BG1_SUMP and the first sampling signalSAMP1 to generate the first drive control pulse DCTR_BG1. The AND gateAND751 may generate the first drive control pulse DCTR_BG1 if the firstbank synthesis pulse BG1_SUMP is created while the first sampling signalSAMP1 is enabled to have a logic “high” level. The AND gate AND752 mayperform a logical AND operation of the third bank synthesis pulseBG3_SUMP and the second sampling signal SAMP2 to generate the thirddrive control pulse DCTR_BG3. The AND gate AND752 may generate the thirddrive control pulse DCTR_BG3 if the third bank synthesis pulse BG3_SUMPis created while the second sampling signal SAMP2 is enabled to have alogic “high” level. The AND gate AND753 may perform a logical ANDoperation of the second bank synthesis pulse BG2_SUMP and the thirdsampling signal SAMP3 to generate the second drive control pulseDCTR_BG2. The AND gate AND753 may generate the second drive controlpulse DCTR_BG2 if the second bank synthesis pulse BG2_SUMP is createdwhile the third sampling signal SAMP3 is enabled to have a logic “high”level. The AND gate AND754 may perform a logical AND operation of thefourth bank synthesis pulse BG4_SUMP and the fourth sampling signalSAMP4 to generate the fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4. The AND gateAND754 may generate the fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4 if thefourth bank synthesis pulse BG4_SUMP is created while the fourthsampling signal SAMP4 is enabled to have a logic “high” level.

Referring to FIG. 13, the data I/O circuit 8 may include a first bankgroup 81, a second bank group 82, a third bank group 83, a fourth bankgroup 84, a first repeater 85, a second repeater 86, a third repeater 87and a fourth repeater 88. The first bank group 81 may include first tofourth banks 811˜814. The second bank group 82 may include first tofourth banks 821˜824. The third bank group 83 may include first tofourth banks 831˜834. The fourth bank group 84 may include first tofourth banks 841˜844. The first repeater 85 may receive the first drivecontrol pulse DCTR_BG1 generated during a read operation to amplifyfirst I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> outputted from the first to fourth banks811˜814 included in the first bank group 81 and to output the amplifieddata of the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> through an I/O line GIO<1:M>.The first repeater 85 may amplify data inputted through the I/O lineGIO<1:M> based on the first drive control pulse DCTR_BG1 generatedduring a write operation to generate the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> tobe stored into the first to fourth banks 811˜814 included in the firstbank group 81. The second repeater 86 may receive the second drivecontrol pulse DCTR_BG2 generated during the read operation to amplifysecond I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M> outputted from the first to fourth banks821˜824 included in the second bank group 82 and to output the amplifieddata of the second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M> through the I/O line GIO<1:M>.The second repeater 86 may amplify data inputted through the I/O lineGIO<1:M> based on the second drive control pulse DCTR_BG2 generatedduring the write operation to generate the second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M>to be stored into the first to fourth banks 821˜824 included in thesecond bank group 82. The third repeater 87 may receive the third drivecontrol pulse DCTR_BG3 generated during the read operation to amplifythird I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M> outputted from the first to fourth banks831˜834 included in the third bank group 83 and to output the amplifieddata of the third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M> through the I/O line GIO<1:M>.The third repeater 87 may amplify data inputted through the I/O lineGIO<1:M> based on the third drive control pulse DCTR_BG3 generatedduring the write operation to generate the third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M>to be stored into the first to fourth banks 831˜834 included in thethird bank group 83. The fourth repeater 88 may receive the fourth drivecontrol pulse DCTR_BG4 generated during the read operation to amplifyfourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> outputted from the first to fourth banks841˜844 included in the fourth bank group 84 and to output the amplifieddata of the fourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> through the I/O line GIO<1:M>.The fourth repeater 88 may amplify data inputted through the I/O lineGIO<1:M> based on the fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4 generatedduring the write operation to generate the fourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M>to be stored into the first to fourth banks 841˜844 included in thefourth bank group 84.

An operation of the semiconductor device having an aforementionedconfiguration will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 14to 16. It may be assumed that points of time “T3” illustrated in FIGS.14 to 16 denote the same point of time and points of time “T4”illustrated in FIGS. 14 to 16 denote the same point of time. Moreover,it may be assumed that points of time “T5” illustrated in FIGS. 14 to 16denote the same point of time and points of time “T6” illustrated inFIGS. 14 to 16 denote the same point of time.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, both of the first address latch signal LADD1and the second address latch signal LADD2 may be set to have a logic“low” level when the command pulse CMDP for the read operation iscreated at a point of time “T1”, and both of the first address latchsignal LADD1 and the second address latch signal LADD2 may be set tohave a logic “high” level when the command pulse CMDP for the readoperation is created at a point of time “T2”.

In FIG. 14, ‘0’ means a logic “low” level and ‘1’ means a logic “high”level. The delayed command pulse CMDPd may be generated at a point oftime that a period corresponding to two cycles of the internal clocksignal ICLK elapses from a point of time that the command pulse CMDP iscreated. During a period (in which the first address latch signal LADD1has a logic “low” level) from the point of time “T1” till the point oftime “T2”, the command pulse CMDP may be delayed by a predetermineddelay period to provide the first and third bank I/O pulses IOP_BG1 andIOP_BG3 which are generated at the point of time “T3” and the delayedcommand pulse CMDPd may be delayed by a predetermined period to providethe first delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d which is generated at the pointof time “T4”. After the point of time “T2” that the first address latchsignal LADD1 has a logic “high” level, the command pulse CMDP may bedelayed by a predetermined delay period to provide the second and fourthbank I/O pulses IOP_BG2 and IOP_BG4 which are generated at the point oftime “T5” and the delayed command pulse CMDPd may be delayed by apredetermined delay period to provide the second delayed I/O pulseIOP_BG24_d which is generated at the point of time “T6”. The firstaddress latch signal LADD1 may be delayed by a predetermined delayperiod to provide the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d, andthe second address latch signal LADD2 may be delayed by a predetermineddelay period to provide the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d.In the present embodiment, the predetermined delay periods of thecommand pulse CMDP, the delayed command pulse CMDPd, the first addresslatch signal LADD1 and the second address latch signal LADD2 may be setto be equal to each other.

The word “predetermined” as used herein with respect to a parameter,such as a predetermined delay period, means that a value for theparameter is determined prior to the parameter being used in a processor algorithm. For some embodiments, the value for the parameter isdetermined before the process or algorithm to begins. In otherembodiments, the value for the parameter is determined during theprocess or algorithm but before the parameter is used in the process oralgorithm.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the synthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM may begenerated at the points of time “T3” and “T5” by synthesizing the firstto fourth bank I/O pulses IOP_BG1, IOP_BG2, IOP_BG3 and IOP_BG4. Thesynthesized delay I/O pulse IOP_d_SUM may be generated at the points oftime “T4” and “T6” by synthesizing the first and second delayed I/Opulses IOP_BG13_d and IOP_BG24_d. The second delayed address latchsignal LADD2 d having a logic “low” level may be latched insynchronization with the synthesized I/O pulse IOP_SUM at the point oftime “T3” to provide the count pulse IB4_CNTP, and the second delayedaddress latch signal LADD2 d having a logic “low” level may be inverselybuffered and latched in synchronization with the synthesized delay I/Opulse IOP_d_SUM at the point: of time “T4” to provide the count pulseIB4_CNTP. The second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d having a logic“high” level may be latched in synchronization with the synthesized I/Opulse IOP_SUM at the point of time “T5” to provide the count pulseIB4_CNTP, and the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d having alogic “high” level may be inversely buffered and latched insynchronization with the synthesized delay I/O pulse IOP_d_SUM at thepoint of time “T6” to provide the count pulse IB4_CNTP.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, during a period from the point of time “T3”till the point of time “T4”, the first sampling signal SAMP1 may beenabled to have a logic “high” level by the count pulse IB4_CNTP havinga logic “low” level and the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 dhaving a logic “low” level. During a period from the point of time “T4”till the point of time “T5”, the second sampling signal SAMP2 may beenabled to have a logic “high” level by the count pulse IB4_CNTP havinga logic “high” level and the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 dhaving a logic “low” level. During a period from the point of time “T5”till the point of time “T6”, the fourth sampling signal SAMP4 may beenabled to have a logic “high” level by the count pulse IB4_CNTP havinga logic “high” level and the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 dhaving a logic “high” level. After the point of time “T6”, the thirdsampling signal SAMP3 may be enabled to have a logic “high” level by thecount pulse IB4_CNTP having a logic “low” level and the first delayedaddress latch signal LADD1 d having a logic “high” level.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the first bank synthesis pulse BG1_SUMP maybe generated at the point of time “T3” that the first bank I/O pulseIOP_BG1 is created and at the point of time “T4” that the first delayedI/O pulse IOP_BG13_d is created, and the third bank synthesis pulseBG3_SUMP may be generated at the point of time “T3” that the third bankI/O pulse IOP_BG3 is created and at the point of time “T4” that thefirst delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG13_d is created. The second bank synthesispulse BG2_SUMP may be generated at the point of time “T5” that thesecond bank I/O pulse IOP_BG2 is created and at the point of time “T6”that the second delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d is created, and the fourthbank synthesis pulse BG4_SUMP may be generated at the point of time “T5”that the fourth bank I/O pulse IOP_BG4 is created and at the point oftime “T6” that the second delayed I/O pulse IOP_BG24_d is created.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the first drive control pulse DCTR_BG1 may begenerated at the point of time “T3” by the first bank synthesis pulseBG1_SUMP which is sampled by the first sampling signal SAMP1 having alogic “high” level. The third drive control pulse DCTR_BG3 may begenerated at the point of time “T4” by the third bank synthesis pulseBG3_SUMP which is sampled by the second sampling signal SAMP2 having alogic “high” level. The fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4 may begenerated at the point of time “T5” by the fourth bank synthesis pulseBG4_SUMP which is sampled by the fourth sampling signal SAMP4 having alogic “high” level. The second drive control pulse DCTR_BG2 may begenerated at the point of time “T6” by the second bank synthesis pulseBG2_SUMP which is sampled by the third sampling signal SAMP3 having alogic “high” level.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> outputtedfrom the first bank group 81 may be amplified by the first drive controlpulse DCTR_BG1 generated at the point of time “T3”, to and the amplifieddata of the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> may be outputted through theI/O line GIO<1:M>. The third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M> outputted from thethird bank group 83 may be amplified by the third drive control pulseDCTR_BG3 generated at the point of time “T4”, and the amplified data ofthe third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M> may be outputted through the I/O lineGIO<1:M>, While a burst length is set to be ‘32’, the first I/O dataBGIO_BG1<1:M> having sixteen bits (e.g., BL1˜BL16) may be outputted atthe point of time “T3” through the I/O line GIO<1:M> and the third I/Odata BGIO_BG3<1:M> having sixteen bits (e.g., BL17˜BL32) may then beoutputted at the point of time “T4” through the I/O line GIO<1:M>. Thefourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> outputted from the fourth bank group 84may be amplified by the fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4 generated atthe point of time “T5”, and the amplified data of the fourth I/O dataBGIO_BG4<1:M> may be outputted through the I/O line GIO<1:M>. The secondI/O data BGIO BG2<1:M> outputted from the second bank group 82 may beamplified by the second drive control pulse DCTR_BG2 generated at thepoint of time “T6”, and the amplified data of the second I/O dataBGIO_BG2<1:M> may be outputted through the I/O line GIO<1:M>. While theburst length is set to be ‘32’, the fourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> havingsixteen bits (e.g., BL1˜BL16) may be outputted at the point of time “T5”through the I/O line GIO<1:M> and the second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M>having sixteen bits (e.g., BL17˜BL32) may then be outputted at the pointof time “T6” through the I/O line GIO<1:M>.

Although FIGS. 14 to 16 illustrates the read operation of thesemiconductor device described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13 while theburst length is set to be ‘32’, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto. For example, in some other embodiments, the present disclosuremay also be applied to the write operation of the semiconductor devicewhile the burst length is set to be equal to or different from ‘32’.

As described above, a semiconductor device according to an embodimentmay sequentially perform read operations or write operations for aplurality of bank groups whenever the command pulse CMDP is created.Thus, operation time and power consumption of the semiconductor devicemay be reduced by sequentially executing data I/O operations of theplurality of bank groups with a circuit for executing the data I/Ooperation of one bank group, as compared with a case that data I/Ooperations for a plurality of bits are simultaneously executed. Inaddition, the semiconductor device may control a sequence of data I/Ooperations for a plurality of bank groups according to a logic levelcombination of the first address ADD1 and the second address ADD2extracted from the external control signal CA<1:L>. For example, asillustrated in FIGS. 14 to 16, the semiconductor device may control asequence of the data I/O operations for the first to fourth bank groups81, 82, 83 and 84 such that the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> stored inthe first bank group 81, the third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M> stored in thethird bank group 83, the fourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> stored in thefourth bank group 84, and the second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M> stored inthe second bank group 82 may be sequentially outputted. Alternatively, asequence of the data I/O operations for the bank groups may becontrolled by an external signal or an internal signal instead of theaddresses.

Referring to FIG. 17, a semiconductor device according to otherembodiments may include a command/address control circuit 91, a firstcore circuit 94 and a second core circuit 96.

The command/address control circuit 91 may generate a first I/O controlpulse IOSTBP_L, a second I/O control pulse IOSTBP_R, a first addresslatch signal LADD1 and a second address latch signal LADD2 based on anexternal control signal CA<1:L> and an internal clock signal ICLK. Thecommand/address control circuit 91 may generate the first I/O controlpulse IOSTBP_L and the second I/O control pulse IOSTBP_R, one of whichis selectively created on the basis of information included in theexternal control signal CA<1:L> if a read operation or a write operationis performed. The command/address control circuit 91 may latchinformation extracted from the external control signal CA<1:L> insynchronization with the internal clock signal ICLK to generate thefirst and second address latch signals LADD1 and LADD2. A configurationand an operation of the command/address control circuit 91 will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 18 to 22 later.

The first core circuit 94 may control a sequence of data I/O operationsof bank groups (9441˜9444 of FIG. 27) included in the first core circuit94 based on the first I/O control pulse IOSTBP_L, the first addresslatch signal LADD1 and the second address latch signal LADD2. Aconfiguration and an operation of the first core circuit 94 will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 23 to 27 later.

The second core circuit 96 may control a sequence of data I/O operationsof bank groups (not shown) included in the second core circuit 96 basedon the second I/O control pulse IOSTBP_R, the first address latch signalLADD1 and the second address latch signal LADD2. A configuration and anoperation of the second core circuit 96 are similar to a configurationand an operation of the first core circuit 94. Thus, a detaileddescription of the second core circuit 96 will be omitted hereinafter.Each of the first and second core circuits 94 and 96 may include a datapad portion (not shown) through which 8-bit data are simultaneouslyinputted or outputted.

Referring to FIG, 18, the command/address control circuit 91 may includea command pulse generation circuit 911, a command pulse delay circuit912, an address extraction circuit 913, an I/O control pulse generationcircuit 914, a first address latch signal generation circuit 915 and asecond address latch signal generation circuit 916.

The command pulse generation circuit 911 may generate a command pulseCMDP based on the external control signal CA<1:L> and the internal clocksignal ICLK. The external control signal CA<1:L> may include a commandand an address that are provided by an external device. The internalclock signal ICLK may be toggled in synchronization with a predeterminededge of a clock signal (not shown) that is provided by the externaldevice or another external device. For example, the internal clocksignal ICLK may be toggled in synchronization with a rising edge of theclock signal (not shown). The number ‘L’ of bits included in theexternal control signal CA<1:L> may be set to be different according tothe embodiments. The external control signal CA<1:L> may be replacedwith a signal which is generated by a circuit in the semiconductordevice in some embodiments, and the internal clock signal ICLK may bereplaced with a clock signal provided by the external device in someembodiments.

The command pulse generation circuit 911 may generate the command pulseCMDP at a point of time that the external control signal CA<1:L> havinga predetermined logic level combination is inputted to the command pulsegeneration circuit 911 in synchronization with the internal clock signalICLK. The command pulse CMDP may be generated to perform the readoperation or the write operation according to the embodiments. Thecommand pulse generation circuit 911 may decode the external controlsignal CA<1:L> to generate the command pulse CMDP.

The command pulse delay circuit 912 may generate a delayed command pulseCMDPd from the command pulse CMDP based on the internal clock signalICLK. The command pulse delay circuit 912 may delay the command pulseCMDP by a predetermined delay period set by the internal clock signalICLK to generate the delayed command pulse CMDPd. A configuration and anoperation of the command pulse delay circuit 912 will be described withreference to FIG. 19 later.

The address extraction circuit 913 may generate a first address ADD1, asecond address ADD2 and a third address ADD3 from the external controlsignal CA<1:L> based on the internal clock signal ICLK. The addressextraction circuit 913 may output the data of predetermined bits of theexternal control signal CA<1:L> inputted to the address extractioncircuit 913 in synchronization with the internal clock signal ICLK asthe first address ADD1. The predetermined bits of the external controlsignal CA<1:L> to be outputted as the first address ADD1 may be set tobe different according to the embodiments. The address extractioncircuit 913 may output the data of predetermined bits of the externalcontrol signal CA<1:L> inputted to the address extraction circuit 913 insynchronization with the internal clock signal ICLK as the secondaddress ADD2. The predetermined bits of the external control signalCA<1:L> to be outputted as the second address ADD2 may be set to bedifferent according to the embodiments. The address extraction circuit913 may output the data of predetermined bits of the external controlsignal CA<1:L> inputted to the address extraction circuit 913 insynchronization with the internal clock signal ICLK as the third addressADD3. The predetermined bits of the external control signal CA<1:L> tobe outputted as the third address ADD3 may be set to be differentaccording to the embodiments.

The I/O control pulse generation circuit 914 may generate the first I/Ocontrol pulse IOSTBP_L and the second I/O control pulse IOSTBP_R fromthe command pulse CMDP and the delayed command pulse CMDPd based on alogic level of the first address ADD1. The I/O control pulse generationcircuit 914 may generate the first I/O control pulse IOSTBP_L wheneverthe command pulse CMDP or the delayed command pulse CMDPd is created ifthe first address ADD1 has a first logic level. The I/O control pulsegeneration circuit 914 may generate the second I/O control pulseIOSTBP_R whenever the command pulse CMDP or the delayed command pulseCMDPd is created if the first address ADD1 has a second logic level. Inthe present embodiment, the first logic level may be set as a logic“low” level and the second logic level may be set as a logic “high”level. A configuration and an operation of the I/O control pulsegeneration circuit 914 will be described with reference to FIG. 20later.

The first address latch signal generation circuit 915 may latch thesecond address ADD2 to output the latched second address as the firstaddress latch signal LADD1, based on the command pulse CMDP. Aconfiguration and an operation of the first address latch signalgeneration circuit 915 will be described with reference to FIG. 21later.

The second address latch signal generation circuit 916 may latch thethird address ADDS to output the latched third address as the secondaddress latch signal LADD2, based on the command pulse CMDP. The secondaddress latch signal generation circuit 916 may latch the second addresslatch signal LADD2 based on the command pulse CMDP and may inverselybuffer the latched signal of the second address latch signal LADD2 basedon the delayed command pulse CMDPd to output the inversely bufferedsignal as the second address latch signal LADD2. A configuration and anoperation of the second address latch signal generation circuit 916 willbe described with reference to FIG. 22 later.

Referring to FIG. 19, the command pulse delay circuit 912 may include,for example, a first shift register 9121 and a second shift register9122. The first shift register 9121 may shift the command pulse CMDP byone cycle of the internal clock signal ICLK. The second shift register9122 may shift an output signal of the first shift register 9121 by onecycle of the internal clock signal ICLK, The command pulse delay circuit912 may delay the command pulse CMDP by a period corresponding to twocycles of the internal clock signal ICLK to generate the delayed commandpulse CMDPd.

Referring to FIG. 20, the I/O control pulse generation circuit 914 maybe configured to perform OR, inversion, and AND operations. For example,the I/O control pulse generation circuit 914 may include an OR gateOR911, an inverter IV91 and AND gates AND911 and AND912. The OR gateOR911 may perform a logical OR operation of the command pulse CMDP andthe delayed command pulse CMDPd to output the result of the logical ORoperation. The inverter IV91 may inversely buffer the first address ADD1to output the inversely buffered signal of the first address ADD1. TheAND gate AND911 may perform a logical AND operation of an output signalof the OR gate OR911 and an output signal of the inverter IV91 togenerate the first I/O control pulse IGSTBP_L. The AND gate AND912 mayperform a logical AND operation of the first address ADD1 and an outputsignal of the OR gate OR911 to generate the second I/O control pulseIOSTBP_R. The I/O control pulse generation circuit 914 may generate thefirst I/O control pulse IOSTBP_L whenever the command pulse CMDP or thedelayed command pulse CMDPd is created if the first address ADD1 has alogic “low” level. The I/O control pulse generation circuit 914 maygenerate the second I/O control pulse IOSTBP_R whenever the commandpulse CMDP or the delayed command pulse CMDPd is created if the firstaddress ADD1 has a logic “high” level.

Referring to FIG. 21, the first address latch signal generation circuit915 may be configured to perform inversion operation. For example, thefirst address latch signal generation circuit 915 may include invertersIV911˜IV916. The inverter IV911 may inversely buffer the command pulseCMDP to output the inversely buffered signal of the command pulse CMDP.The inverter IV912 may inversely buffer the second address ADD2 tooutput the inversely buffered signal of the second address ADD2 to anode nd911 if the command pulse CMDP has a logic “high” level. Theinverter IV913 may inversely buffer a signal of the node nd911 to outputthe inversely buffered signal of the signal of the node nd911 to a nodend912. The inverter IV914 may inversely buffer a signal of the nodend912 to output the inversely buffered signal of the signal of the nodend912 to the node nd911 after the command pulse CMDP is created. Theinverter IV915 may inversely buffer a signal of the node nd912 to outputthe inversely buffered signal of the signal of the node nd912. Theinverter IV916 may inversely buffer an output signal of the inverterIV915 to output the inversely buffered signal of the output signal ofthe inverter IV915 as the first address latch signal LADD1 after thecommand pulse CMDP is created. The first address latch signal generationcircuit 915 may latch the second address ADD2 to output the latchedaddress of the second address ADD2 as the first address latch signalLADD1 if the command pulse CMDP has a logic “high” level.

Referring to FIG. 22, the second address latch signal generation circuit916 may be configured to perform inversion operations. For example thesecond address latch signal generation circuit 916 may include invertersIV921˜IV931. The inverter IV921 may inversely buffer the command pulseCMDP to output the inversely buffered signal of the command pulse CMDP.The inverter IV922 may inversely buffer the third address ADD3 to outputthe inversely buffered signal of the third address ADD3 to a node nd921if the command pulse CMDP has a logic “high” level. The inverter IV923may inversely buffer a signal of the node nd921 to output the inverselybuffered signal of the signal of the node nd921 to a node nd922. Theinverter IV924 may inversely buffer a signal of the node nd922 to outputthe inversely buffered signal of the signal of the node nd922 to thenode nd921 after the command pulse CMDP is created. The inverter IV925may inversely buffer a signal of the node nd922 to output the inverselybuffered signal of the signal of the node nd922. The inverter IV926 mayinversely buffer an output signal of the inverter IV925 to output theinversely buffered signal of the output signal of the inverter IV925 asthe second address latch signal LADD2 after the command pulse CMDP iscreated. The second address latch signal generation circuit 916 maylatch the third address ADD3 to output the latched address of the thirdaddress ADD3 as the second address latch signal LADD2 if the commandpulse CMDP has a logic “high” level. The inverter IV927 may inverselybuffer the second address latch signal LADD2 to output the inverselybuffered signal of the second address latch signal LADD2 to a node nd923if the command pulse CMDP has a logic “high” level. The inverter IV928may inversely buffer a signal of the node nd923 to output the inverselybuffered signal of the signal of the node nd923 to a node nd924. Theinverter IV929 may inversely buffer a signal of the node nd924 to outputthe inversely buffered signal of the signal of the node nd924 to thenode nd923 after the command pulse CMDP is created. The inverter IV930may inversely buffer the delayed command pulse CMDPd to output theinversely buffered pulse of the delayed command pulse CMDPd. Theinverter IV931 may inversely buffer a signal of the node nd924 to outputthe inversely buffered signal of the signal of the node nd924 as thesecond address latch signal LADD2 after the delayed command pulse CMDPdis created. The second address latch signal generation circuit 916 maylatch the second address latch signal LADD2 if the command pulse CMDPhas a logic “high” level and may inversely buffer the latched signal ofthe second address latch signal LADD2 to output the inversely bufferedsignal of the latched signal of the second address latch signal LADD2 asthe second address latch signal LADD2 after the delayed command pulseCMDPd is created.

Referring to FIG. 23, the first core circuit 94 may include an I/O pulsedelay circuit 941, an address delay circuit 942, a drive control pulsegeneration circuit 943 and a data I/O circuit 944.

The I/O pulse delay circuit 941 may delay the first I/O control pulseIOSTBP_L to generate a delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld. A configuration andan operation of the I/O pulse delay circuit 941 will be described withreference to FIG. 24 later.

The address delay circuit 942 may delay the first address latch signalLADD1 to generate a first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d. Theaddress delay circuit 942 may delay the second address latch signalLADD2 to generate a second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d. Aconfiguration and an operation of the address delay circuit 942 will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 25. later.

The drive control pulse generation circuit 943 may generate a firstdrive control pulse DCTR_BG1, a second drive control pulse DCTR_BG2, athird drive control pulse DCTR_BG3 and a fourth drive control pulseDCTR_BG4 based on the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld, the first delayedaddress latch signal LADD1 d and the second delayed address latch signalLADD2 d. The drive control pulse generation circuit 943 may control ageneration sequence of the first drive control pulse DCTR_BG1, thesecond drive control pulse DCTR_BG2, the third drive control pulseDCTR_BG3 and the fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4 according to alogic level combination of the first delayed address latch signal LADD1d and the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d. A configurationand an operation of the drive control pulse generation circuit 943 willbe described with reference to FIG. 26. later

The data I/O circuit 944 may perform a data I/O operation based on thefirst drive control pulse DCTR_BG1, the second drive control pulseDCTR_BG2, the third drive control pulse DCTR_BG3 and the fourth drivecontrol pulse DCTR_BG4. The data I/O circuit 944 may control a sequenceof data I/O operations of bank groups (9441˜9444 of FIG. 27) accordingto the generation sequence of the first to fourth drive control pulsesDCTR_BG1, DCTR_BG3 and DCTR_BG4. A configuration and an operation of thedata I/O circuit 944 will be described with reference to FIG. 27 later.

Referring to FIG. 24, the I/O pulse delay circuit 941 may be realizedusing, for example, an inverter chain comprised of first to I^(th)inverters IV941<1:I> that are cascaded. The I/O pulse delay circuit 941may delay the first I/O control pulse IOSTBP_L using the inverter chaincomprised of the first to I^(th) inverters IV941<1:I> to generate thedelayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld.

Referring to FIG. 25, the address delay circuit 942 may include a firstaddress delay circuit 945 and a second address delay circuit 946. Thefirst address delay circuit 945 may be realized using, for example, aninverter chain comprised of first to r inverters IV945<1:J> that arecascaded. The first address delay circuit 945 may delay the firstaddress latch signal LADD1 using the inverter chain comprised of thefirst to J^(th) inverters IV945<1:J> to output the delayed signal of thefirst address latch signal LADD1 as the first delayed address latchsignal LADD1 d. The second address delay circuit 946 may be realizedusing, for example, an inverter chain comprised of first to K^(th)inverters IV946<1:K> that are cascaded. The second address delay circuit946 may delay the second address latch signal LADD2 using the inverterchain comprised of the first to K^(th) inverters IV946<1:K> to outputthe delayed signal of the second address latch signal LADD2 as thesecond delayed address latch signal LADD2 d.

In the present embodiment, the number ‘I’ of the inverters included inthe first to I^(th) inverters IV941<1:I>, the number ‘J’ of theinverters included in the first to J^(th) inverters IV945<1:3>, and thenumber ‘K’ of the inverters included in the first to K^(th) invertersIV946<1:K> may be set to be equal to each other. In some embodiments,the number ‘I’ of the inverters included in the first to I^(th)inverters IV941<1:I>, the number ‘J’ of the inverters included in thefirst to J^(th) inverters IV945<1:J>, and the number ‘K’ of theinverters included in the first to K^(th) inverters IV946<1:K> may beset to be different from each other.

Referring to FIG. 26, the drive control pulse generation circuit 943 mayinclude a first drive control pulse generation circuit 9431, a seconddrive control pulse generation circuit 9432, a third drive control pulsegeneration circuit 9433 and a fourth drive control pulse generationcircuit 9434.

The first drive control pulse generation circuit 9431 may be configuredto perform inversion, NOR, and NAND operations. For example, the firstdrive control pulse generation circuit 9431 may include invertersIV9431˜IV9436, a NAND gate NAND9431 and a NOR gate NOR9431. The inverterIV9431 may inversely buffer the first delayed address lath signal LADD1d to output the inversely buffered signal of the first delayed addresslath signal LADD1 d. The inverter IV9432 may inversely buffer the seconddelayed address lath signal LADD2 d to output the inversely bufferedsignal of the second delayed address lath signal LADD2 d. The NAND gateNAND9431 may perform a logical NAND operation of an output signal of theinverter IV9431 and an output signal of the inverter IV9432 to outputthe result of the logical NAND operation. The inverter IV9433 mayinversely buffer the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld to output the inverselybuffered pulse of the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld. The inverter IV9434may inversely buffer an output signal of the NAND gate NAND9431 tooutput the inversely buffered signal of the output signal of the NANDgate NAND9431 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high”level. The inverter IV9435 may inversely buffer an output signal of theinverter IV9434 to output the inversely buffered signal of the outputsignal of the inverter IV9434. The inverter IV9436 may inversely bufferan output signal of the inverter IV9435 to output the inversely bufferedsignal of the output signal of the inverter IV9435 to an input terminalof the inverter IV9435 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic“low” level. The NOR gate NOR9431 may inversely buffer an output signalof the inverter IV9435 to output the inversely buffered signal of theoutput signal of the inverter IV9435 as the first drive control pulseDCTR_BG1 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high” level.The first drive control pulse generation circuit 9431 may generate thefirst drive control pulse DCTR_BG1 having a logic “high” level if thedelayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high” level while both of thefirst and second delayed address lath signals LADD1 d and LADD2 d have alogic “low” level.

The second drive control pulse generation circuit 9432 may be configuredto perform inversion, NAND, and NOR operations. For example, the seconddrive control pulse generation circuit 9432 may include invertersIV9444˜IV9446, a NAND gate NAND9432 and a NOR gate NOR9432. The NANDgate NAND9432 may perform a logical NAND operation of the second delayedaddress lath signal LADD2 d and an output signal of the inverter IV9431to output the result of the logical NAND operation. The inverter IV9444may inversely buffer an output signal of the NAND gate NAND9432 tooutput the inversely buffered signal of the output signal of the NANDgate NAND9432 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high”level. The inverter IV9445 may inversely buffer an output signal of theinverter IV9444 to output the inversely buffered signal of the outputsignal of the inverter IV9444. The inverter IV9446 may inversely bufferan output signal of the inverter IV9445 to output the inversely bufferedsignal of the output signal of the inverter IV9445 to an input terminalof the inverter IV9445 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic“low” level. The NOR gate NOR9432 may inversely buffer an output signalof the inverter IV9445 to output the inversely buffered signal of theoutput signal of the inverter IV9445 as the third drive control pulseDCTR_BG3 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high” level.The second drive control pulse generation circuit 9432 may generate thethird drive control pulse DCTR_BG3 having a logic “high” level if thedelayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high” level while the firstdelayed address lath signal LADD1 d has a logic “low” level and thesecond delayed address lath signal LADD2 d has a logic “high” level.

The third drive control pulse generation circuit 9433 may be configuredto perform inversion, NAND, and NOR operations. For example, the thirddrive control pulse generation circuit 9433 may include invertersIV9454˜IV9456, a NAND gate NAND9433 and a NOR gate NOR9433. The NANDgate NAND9433 may perform a logical NAND operation of the first delayedaddress lath signal LADD1 d and an output signal of the inverter IV9432to output the result of the logical NAND operation. The inverter IV9454may inversely buffer an output signal of the NAND gate NAND9433 tooutput the inversely buffered signal of the output signal of the NANDgate NAND9433 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high”level. The inverter IV9455 may inversely buffer an output signal of theinverter IV9454 to output the inversely buffered signal of the outputsignal of the inverter IV9454. The inverter IV9456 may inversely bufferan output signal of the inverter IV9455 to output the inversely bufferedsignal of the output signal of the inverter IV9455 to an input terminalof the inverter IV9455 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic“low” level. The NOR gate NOR9433 may inversely buffer an output signalof the inverter IV9455 to output the inversely buffered signal of theoutput signal of the inverter IV9455 as the second drive control pulseDCTR_BG2 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high” level.The third drive control pulse generation circuit 9433 may generate thesecond drive control pulse DCTR_BG2 having a logic “high” level if thedelayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high” level while the firstdelayed address lath signal LADD1 d has a logic “high” level and thesecond delayed address lath signal LADD2 d has a logic “low” level.

The fourth drive control pulse generation circuit 9434 may be configuredto perform inversion, NAND, and NOR operations. For example, the fourthdrive control pulse generation circuit 9434 may include invertersIV9464˜IV9466, a NAND gate NAND9434 and a NOR gate NOR9434. The NANDgate NAND9434 may perform a logical NAND operation of the first delayedaddress lath signal LADD1 d and the second delayed address lath signalLADD2 d to output the result of the logical NAND operation. The inverterIV9464 may inversely buffer an output signal of the NAND gate NAND9434to output the inversely buffered signal of the output signal of the NANDgate NAND9434 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high”level. The inverter IV9465 may inversely buffer an output signal of theinverter IV9464 to output the inversely buffered signal of the outputsignal of the inverter IV9464. The inverter IV9466 may inversely bufferan output signal of the inverter IV9465 to output the inversely bufferedsignal of the output signal of the inverter IV9465 to an input terminalof the inverter IV9465 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic“low” level. The NOR gate NOR9434 may inversely buffer an output signalof the inverter IV9465 to output the inversely buffered signal of theoutput signal of the inverter IV9465 as the fourth drive control pulseDCTR_BG4 if the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high” level.The fourth drive control pulse generation circuit 9434 may generate thefourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4 having a logic “high” level if thedelayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld has a logic “high” level while both of thefirst and second delayed address lath signals LADD1 d and LADD2 d has alogic “high” level.

Referring to FIG. 27, the data I/O circuit 944 may include a first bankgroup 9441, a second bank group 9442, a third bank group 9443, a fourthbank group 9444, a first repeater 9445, a second repeater 9446, a thirdrepeater 9447 and a fourth repeater 9448. The first bank group 9441 mayinclude first to fourth banks 9441 a˜9441 d. The second bank group 9442may include first to fourth banks 9442 a˜9442 d. The third bank group9443 may include first to fourth banks 9443 a˜9443 d. The fourth bankgroup 9444 may include first to fourth banks 9444 a˜9444 d. The firstrepeater 9445 may receive the first drive control pulse DCTR_BG1generated during a read operation to amplify first I/O dataBGIO_BG1<1:M> outputted from the first to fourth banks 9441 a˜9441 dincluded in the first bank group 9441 and to output the amplified dataof the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:1\1> through an I/O line GIO<1:M>. Thefirst repeater 9445 may amplify data inputted through the I/O lineGIO<1:M> based on the first drive control pulse DCTR_BG1 generatedduring a write operation to generate the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> tobe stored into the first to fourth banks 9441 a˜9441 d included in thefirst bank group 9441. The second repeater 9446 may receive the seconddrive control pulse DCTR_BG2 generated during the read operation toamplify second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M> outputted from the first to fourthbanks 9442 a˜9442 d included in the second bank group 9442 and to outputthe amplified data of the second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M> through the I/Oline GIO<1:M>. The second repeater 9446 may amplify data inputtedthrough the I/O line GIO<1:M> based on the second drive control pulseDCTR_BG2 generated during the write operation to generate the second I/Odata BGIO_BG2<1:M> to be stored into the first to fourth banks 9442a˜9442 d included in the second bank group 9442. The third repeater 9447may receive the third drive control pulse DCTR_BG3 generated during theread operation to amplify third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M>outputted from thefirst to fourth banks 9443 a˜9443 d included in the third bank group9443 and to output the amplified data of the third I/O dataBGIO_BG3<1:M> through the I/O line GIO<1:M>. The third repeater 9447 mayamplify data inputted through the I/O line GIO<1:M> based on the thirddrive control pulse DCTR_BG3 generated during the write operation togenerate the third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M> to be stored into the first tofourth banks 9443 a˜9443 d included in the third bank group 9443. Thefourth repeater 9448 may receive the fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4generated during the read operation to amplify fourth I/O dataBGIO_BG4<1:M> outputted from the first to fourth banks 9444 a˜9444 dincluded in the fourth bank group 9444 and to output the amplified dataof the fourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> through the I/O line GIO<1:M>. Thefourth repeater 9448 may amplify data inputted through the I/O lineGIO<1:M> based on the fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4 generatedduring the write operation to generate the fourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M>to be stored into the first to fourth banks 9444 a˜9444 d included inthe fourth bank group 9444.

An operation of the semiconductor device having the aforementionedconfiguration will be described hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 28and 29. It may be assumed that points of time “T13” illustrated in FIGS.28 and 29 denote the same point of time and points of time “T14”illustrated in FIGS. 28 and 29 denote the same point of time. Moreover,it may be assumed that points of time “T15” illustrated in FIGS. 28 and29 denote the same point of time and points of time “T16” illustrated inFIGS. 28 and 29 denote the same point of time.

As illustrated in FIG. 28, all of the first to third address signalsADD1, ADD2 and ADD3 may be set to have a logic “low” level when thecommand pulse CMDP for the read operation is created at a point of time“T11”, and the first address ADD1 may be set to maintain a logic “low”level and both of the second and third addresses ADD2 and ADD3 may beset to have a logic “high” level when the command pulse CMDP for theread operation is created at a point of time “T12”. In FIG. 28, ‘0’means a logic “low” level and ‘1’ means a logic “high” level. Thedelayed command pulse CMDPd may be generated at a point of time that aperiod corresponding to two cycles of the internal clock signal ICLKelapses from a point of time that the command puke CMDP is created.Since the first address ADD1 is set to have a logic “low” level from thepoint of time “T11”, the first I/O control pulse IOSTBP_L may begenerated whenever the command pulse CMDP or the delayed command pulseCMDPd is created. Since the second address ADD2 is set to have a logic“low” level during a period from the point of time “T11” till the pointof time “T12”, the first address latch signal LADD1 may be set to have alogic “low” level by the second address ADD2 latched when the commandpulse CMDP is created. Since the second address ADD2 is set to have alogic “high” from the point of time “T12”, the first address latchsignal LADD1 may be set to have a logic “high” level by the secondaddress ADD2 latched when the command pulse CMDP is created. Since thethird address ADD3 is set to have a logic “low” level during a periodfrom the point of time “T11” till the point of time “T12”, the secondaddress latch signal LADD2 may be set to have a logic “low” level from apoint of time that the command pulse CMDP is created and the secondaddress latch signal LADD2 may be set to have a logic “high” level froma point of time that the delayed command pulse CMDPd is created. Sincethe third address ADD3 is set to have a logic “high” level from thepoint of time “T12”, the second address latch signal LADD2 may be set tohave a logic “high” level from a point of time that the command pulseCMDP is created and the second address latch signal LADD2 may be set tohave a logic “low” level from a point of time that the delayed commandpuke CMDPd is created.

As illustrated in FIG. 28, the first I/O control puke IOSTBP_L may bedelayed to provide the delayed I/O puke IOSTBP_Ld, the first addresslatch signal LADD1 may be delayed to provide the first delayed addresslatch signal LADD1 d, and the second address latch signal LADD2 may bedelayed to provide the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d.Since both of the first and second delayed address latch signals LADD1 dand LADD2 d have a logic “low” level during a period from the point oftime “T13” till the point of time “T14”, the first drive control pulseDCTR_BG1 may be generated when the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld iscreated. Since the first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d has alogic “low” level and the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 dhas a logic “high” level during a period from the point of time “T14”till the point of time “T15”, the third drive control pulse DCTR_BG3 maybe generated when the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld is created. Since bothof the first and second delayed address latch signals LADD1 d and LADD2d have a logic “high” level during a period from the point of time “T15”till the point of time “T16”, the fourth drive control pulse DCTR_BG4may be generated when the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld is created. Sincethe first delayed address latch signal LADD1 d has a logic “high” leveland the second delayed address latch signal LADD2 d has a logic “low”level from the point of time “T16”, the second drive control pulseDCTR_BG2 may be generated when the delayed I/O pulse IOSTBP_Ld iscreated.

As illustrated in FIG. 29, the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> outputtedfrom the first bank group 9441 may be amplified by the first drivecontrol pulse DCTR_BG1 generated at the point of time “T13”, and theamplified data of the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> may be outputtedthrough the I/O line GIO<1:M>. The third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M>outputted from the third bank group 9443 may be amplified by the thirddrive control pulse DCTR_BG3 generated at the point of time “T14”, andthe amplified data of the third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M> may be outputtedthrough the I/O line GIO<1:M>. While a burst length is set to be ‘32’,the first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> having sixteen bits (e.g., BL1˜BL16)may be outputted at the point of time “T13” through the I/O lineGIO<1:M> and the third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M> having sixteen bits (e.g.,BL17˜BL32) may then be outputted at the point of time “T14” through theI/O line GIO<1:M>. The fourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> outputted from thefourth bank group 9444 may be amplified by the fourth drive controlpulse DCTR_BG4 generated at the point of time “T15”, and the amplifieddata of the fourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> may be outputted through theI/O line GIO<1:M>. The second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M> outputted from thesecond bank group 9442 may be amplified by the second drive controlpulse DCTR_BG2 generated at the point of time “T16”, and the amplifieddata of the second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M> may be outputted through theI/O line GIO<1:M>. While the burst length is set to be ‘32’, the fourthI/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> having sixteen bits (e.g., BL17˜BL32) may beoutputted at the point of time “T15” through the I/O line GIO<1:M> andthe second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M> having sixteen bits (e.g., BL1˜BL16)may then be outputted at the point of time “T16” through the I/O lineGIO<1:M>.

Although FIGS. 28 and 29 illustrates the read operation of thesemiconductor device described with reference to FIGS. 17 to 27 whilethe burst length is set to be ‘32’, the present disclosure is notlimited thereto. For example, in some other embodiments, the presentdisclosure may also be applied to the write operation of thesemiconductor device while the burst length is set to be equal to ordifferent from ‘32’.

As described above, a semiconductor device according to an embodimentmay sequentially perform read operations or write operations for aplurality of bank groups whenever the command pulse CMDP is created.Thus, operation time and power consumption of the semiconductor devicemay be reduced by sequentially executing data I/O operations of theplurality of bank groups with a circuit for executing the data I/Ooperation of one bank group, as compared with a case that data I/Ooperations for a plurality of bits are simultaneously executed. Inaddition, the semiconductor device may select a core circuit and maycontrol a sequence of data I/O operations for the plurality of bankgroups according to a logic level combination of the first to thirdaddresses ADD1, ADD2 and ADD3 extracted from the external control signalCA<1:1._>. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 28 and 29, thesemiconductor device may control a sequence of the data I/O operationsfor the first to fourth bank groups 9441, 9442, 9443 and 9444 such thatthe first I/O data BGIO_BG1<1:M> stored in the first bank group 9441,the third I/O data BGIO_BG3<1:M> stored in the third bank group 9443,the fourth I/O data BGIO_BG4<1:M> stored in the fourth bank group 9444,and the second I/O data BGIO_BG2<1:M> stored in the second bank group9442 may be sequentially outputted. Alternatively, a sequence of thedata I/O operations for the bank groups may be controlled by an externalsignal or an internal signal instead of the addresses.

The semiconductor devices described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 29 maybe applied to an electronic system that includes a memory system, agraphic system, a computing system, a mobile system, or the like. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 30, an electronic system 1000 accordingan embodiment may include a data storage circuit 1001, a memorycontroller 1002, a buffer memory 1003, and an input/output (I/O)interface 1004.

The data storage circuit 1001 may store data which are outputted fromthe memory controller 1002 or may read and output the stored data to thememory controller 1002, according to a control signal outputted from thememory controller 1002. The data storage circuit 1001 may include atleast one the semiconductor devices illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 17.Meanwhile, the data storage circuit 1001 may include a nonvolatilememory that can retain their stored data even when its power supply isinterrupted. The nonvolatile memory may be a flash memory such as aNOR-type flash memory or a NAND-type flash memory, a phase change randomaccess memory (PRAM), a resistive random access memory (RRAM), a spintransfer torque random access memory (STTRAM), a magnetic random accessmemory (MRAM), or the like.

The memory controller 1002 may receive a command outputted from anexternal device (e.g., a host device) through the I/O interface 1004 andmay decode the command outputted from the host device to control anoperation for inputting data into the data storage circuit 1001 or thebuffer memory 1003 or for outputting the is data stored in the datastorage circuit 1001 or the buffer memory 1003. Although FIG. 30illustrates the memory controller 1002 with a single block, the memorycontroller 1002 may include one controller for controlling the datastorage circuit 1001 and another controller for controlling the buffermemory 1003 comprised of a volatile memory.

The buffer memory 1003 may temporarily store the data to be processed bythe memory controller 1002. That is, the buffer memory 1003 maytemporarily store the data which are outputted from or to be inputted tothe data storage circuit 1001. The buffer memory 1003 may store thedata, which are outputted from the memory controller 1002, according toa control signal. The buffer memory 1003 may read and output the storeddata to the memory controller 1002. The buffer memory 1003 may include avolatile memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a mobileDRAM, or a static random access memory (SRAM).

The I/O interface 1004 may physically and electrically connect thememory controller 1002 to the external device (i.e., the host). Thus,the memory controller 1002 may receive control to signals and datasupplied from the external device (i.e., the host) through the I/Ointerface 1004 and may output the data outputted from the memorycontroller 1002 to the external device (i.e., the host) through the I/Ointerface 1004. That is, the electronic system 1000 may communicate withthe host through the I/O interface 1004. The I/O interface 1004 mayinclude any one of various interface protocols such as a universalserial bus (USB), a multi-media card (MMC), a peripheral componentinterconnect-express (PCI-E), a serial attached SCSI (SAS), a serial ATattachment (SATA), a parallel AT attachment (PATA), a small computersystem interface (SCSI), an enhanced small device interface (ESDI) andan integrated drive electronics (IDE).

The electronic system 1000 may be used as an auxiliary storage device ofthe host or an external storage device. The electronic system 1000 mayinclude a solid state disk (SSD), a USB memory, a secure digital (SD)card, a mini secure digital (mSD) card, a micro secure digital (microSD) card, a secure digital high capacity (SDHC) card, a memory stickcard, a smart media (SM) card, a multi-media card (MMC), an embeddedmulti-media card (eMMC), a compact flash (CF) card, or the like.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor device comprising: a command andaddress (command/address) control circuit configured to generate firstand second input and output (I/O) control pulses and first and secondaddress latch signals on the basis of information included in anexternal control signal; and a first core circuit configured to controldata I/O operations of first to fourth bank groups based on the firstI/O control pulse and the first and second address latch signals.
 2. Thesemiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the command/address controlcircuit selectively generates any one of the first and second I/Ocontrol pulses based on a first address extracted from the externalcontrol signal.
 3. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein thecommand/address control circuit includes an address extraction circuitextracting first to third addresses from the external control signal. 4.The semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein the command/address controlcircuit further includes an I/O control pulse generation circuitconfigured to generate the first and second I/O control pulses from acommand pulse or a delayed command pulse based on the first address; andwherein the command pulse is generated to perform a read operation or awrite operation, and the delayed command pulse is generated by delayingthe command pulse.
 5. The semiconductor device of claim 4, wherein theI/O control pulse generation circuit generates the first I/O controlpulse whenever the command pulse or the delayed command pulse is createdwhen the first address has a first logic level; and wherein the I/Ocontrol pulse generation circuit generates the second I/O control pulsewhenever the command pulse or the delayed command pulse is created whenthe first address has a second logic level.
 6. The semiconductor deviceof claim 3, wherein the command/address control circuit further includesa first address latch signal generation circuit that latches the secondaddress to generate the first address latch signal when a command pulseis created.
 7. The semiconductor device of claim 3, wherein thecommand/address control circuit further includes a second address latchsignal generation circuit that latches the third address to generate thesecond address latch signal when a command pulse is created and thatinversely buffers the second address latch signal to generate the secondaddress latch signal when a delayed command pulse is created.
 8. Thesemiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the first core circuit includesa drive control pulse generation circuit configured to generate first tofourth drive control pulses based on a delayed I/O pulse generated bydelaying the first I/O control pulse, a first delayed address latchsignal generated by delaying the first address latch signal, and asecond delayed address latch signal generated by delaying the secondaddress latch signal.
 9. The semiconductor device of claim 8, whereinthe drive control pulse generation circuit generates the first to fourthdrive control pulses from the delayed I/O pulse according to a logiclevel combination of the first and second delayed address latch signals.10. The semiconductor device of claim 8, wherein the drive control pulsegeneration circuit generates the third drive control pulse after thefirst drive control pulse is generated when both of the first and seconddelayed address latch signals have a first logic level.
 11. Thesemiconductor device of claim 8, wherein the drive control pulsegeneration circuit generates the first drive control pulse after thethird drive control pulse is generated when the first delayed addresslatch signal has a first logic level and the second delayed addresslatch signal has a second logic level.
 12. The semiconductor device ofclaim 8, wherein the drive control pulse generation circuit generatesthe fourth drive control pulse after the second drive control pulse isgenerated when the first delayed address latch signal has a second logiclevel and the second delayed address latch signal has a first logiclevel.
 13. The semiconductor device of claim 8, wherein the drivecontrol pulse generation circuit generates the second drive controlpulse after the fourth drive control pulse is generated when both of thefirst and second delayed address latch signals have a second logiclevel.
 14. The semiconductor device of claim 8, wherein the first corecircuit further includes a data I/O circuit configured to control dataI/O operations of the first to fourth bank groups based on the first tofourth drive control pulses.
 15. The semiconductor device of claim 1,further comprising a second core circuit configured to control data I/Ooperations of fifth to eighth bank groups based on the second I/Ocontrol pulse and the first and second address latch signals.